Delfi.lt
Encyclopedia
Delfi is a major internet portal in the Baltic States
of Estonia
, Latvia
, and Lithuania
, providing daily news, ranging from gardening to politics. It ranks as the most popular website among Lithuanian and Estonian internet users.
Delfi operates in the respective Baltic countries under the domain names delfi.ee, delfi.lv, and delfi.lt. Aside from versions in the Estonian
, Latvian
, and Lithuanian
languages, the company offers Russian language
versions of its portal in all three countries. Also, from spring 2007 it offers Russian language site in Ukraine
under delfi.ua
and sold in 2003 to the Norwegian
company Findexa. In 2007 Estonian media group Ekspress Grupp acquired 100% of Delfi stocks for €54m. It operates under a single name in the three Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia, and also in Ukraine
. It has its own bureaux in Moscow
, Kaliningrad
, Warsaw
, and Stockholm
. It also sources its news reports from the Baltic News Service
and from wire services.
in the Baltic States. Some members of the Estonian and Lithuanian Parliaments have proposed laws making Delfi and other news portals responsible for the contents of anonymous comments. In September 2006, attorneys of Artūras Zuokas
, the mayor for Vilnius
, asked public prosecutors to seize Delfi servers and reveal the IP address
es of all anonymous commentators that have written comments about him in several Delfi publications.
Baltic states
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
of Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, and Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, providing daily news, ranging from gardening to politics. It ranks as the most popular website among Lithuanian and Estonian internet users.
Delfi operates in the respective Baltic countries under the domain names delfi.ee, delfi.lv, and delfi.lt. Aside from versions in the Estonian
Estonian language
Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and tens of thousands in various émigré communities...
, Latvian
Latvian language
Latvian is the official state language of Latvia. It is also sometimes referred to as Lettish. There are about 1.4 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and about 150,000 abroad. The Latvian language has a relatively large number of non-native speakers, atypical for a small language...
, and Lithuanian
Lithuanian language
Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
languages, the company offers Russian language
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
versions of its portal in all three countries. Also, from spring 2007 it offers Russian language site in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
under delfi.ua
Company development
Delfi was established in 1999 by the Estonian company MicroLinkMicroLink
MicroLink was Estonian IT company, founded in August 1991. In 2005 it was acquired by Eesti Telekom. In 2009, MicroLink sold its software development business along with competencies to Helmes AS. By the end of 2010, the reminder of MicroLink claimed to employ up to 200 people...
and sold in 2003 to the Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
company Findexa. In 2007 Estonian media group Ekspress Grupp acquired 100% of Delfi stocks for €54m. It operates under a single name in the three Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia, and also in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. It has its own bureaux in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad is a seaport and the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea...
, Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, and Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
. It also sources its news reports from the Baltic News Service
Baltic News Service
The Baltic News Service is the largest news agency operating in the Baltic states. Founded in April, 1990, by a group of students , it sought to inform foreign correspondents in Moscow of developments in the Baltic states' struggles for independence from the Soviet Union...
and from wire services.
Freedom of speech
Because visitors of Delfi can comment on every news story, this site generates debates over freedom of speechFreedom of speech
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
in the Baltic States. Some members of the Estonian and Lithuanian Parliaments have proposed laws making Delfi and other news portals responsible for the contents of anonymous comments. In September 2006, attorneys of Artūras Zuokas
Arturas Zuokas
Artūras Zuokas is a Lithuanian politician. He is former leader of the Liberal and Centre Union political party and the Mayor of Vilnius city municipality from 2000-2007 and from April 2011 onward. He was a member of the Seimas .Zuokas graduated from the secondary school of Jonava...
, the mayor for Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
, asked public prosecutors to seize Delfi servers and reveal the IP address
IP address
An Internet Protocol address is a numerical label assigned to each device participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing...
es of all anonymous commentators that have written comments about him in several Delfi publications.
Sources
- Internet portals in the Baltic States: legal issues by Liutauras Ulevičius